What is Supernatural?

Supernatural is a television show on the CW television network which regularly airs on Thursday nights at 9:00 pm. Supernatural is about a pair of monster hunting brothers trying to stave off the apocalypse by drinking beer, playing classic rock and kicking a little monster ass.

The main characters are Sam and Dean Winchester, brothers reunited after a long separation when their monster-hunting father goes missing. Sam, the tall, brooding brother resented the lifestyle of monster hunting he grew up in and had run off to college to become a lawyer. Dean, the scrappier and older brother had always followed in his father’s footsteps out of loyalty and resented his brother for this perceived betrayal.

Their father is John Winchester, played by actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, better known to movie-goers as The Comedian from Zack Snyder’s Watchmen film adaptation. John Winchester is a man who dedicated his life to fighting the supernatural after a yellow-eyed demon killed his wife. When a similar fate befalls Sam’s fiancé, the brothers put their past behind them to rid the world of the evils lying in the shadows once and for all.

A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS

Along the way Sam and Dean are routinely helped by other hunters, a few angels and even a demon or two. Current recurring characters include Castiel, a fallen angel discovering what it’s like to be human, and their Father’s old hunting buddy, Bobby.

The basic plot of any given Supernatural episode is Sam and Dean drive into town in their totally boss 1967 Chevrolet Impala, blasting classic rock and sporting significant hang overs while they search for omens, portents and the telltale traces of supernatural wrong-doing. Once the monster of the week is identified the brothers set to work dispatching the nasty with shotguns full of salt, the only real weapon against ghosts, as well as a demonic knife and an original colt pistol blessed by the devil to kill anything…except himself.

The apocalypse, demonic blood drinking and trips to hell are themes visited upon from season to season. Fun Fun fun!

SO WHAT?

I know what you’re thinking. The year is 2010 and the X-Files is now almost 15 years old. Since that time we’ve had Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Charmed, a few aborted World of Darkness shows and Cthulhu knows how many other TV shows with similar plots, themes and monsters.

Supernatural is even shot in Vancouver, Canada like the early X-Files themselves….no wonder those ferns look so familiar.

“What,” you ask, “Makes this show so dang special?”

THE GOOD STUFF

The charm of Supernatural is the post modern humor as sold by the writers and characters. Everyone in the production of Supernatural is AWARE they’re mining old material so they do their best to keep it fresh.

In one episode it’s established that Angels are filling a young writer’s mind with the images of Sam and Dean’s life in order for him to write their Gospels. Instead, the writer turns Sam and Dean’s life into a series of popular fantasy novels. Later on in the series Sam and Dean have the uncomfortable opportunity to attend a fan convention dedicated to themselves as part of a ghost hunt…only everybody there thinks they’re cosplaying as the characters based on their own adventures.

This level of funny/weird writing can only be achieved through talented writers, and in that regard it doesn’t hurt that superstar writer Ben Edlund is along for the ride. Edlund, as many comic book fans know, is the creator of The Tick, the greatest humor super-hero comic arguably of all time. Fox Television bought the rights to Tick TV shows, spawning a brilliant cartoon and a bizarre, though noteworthy live-action show.

Through these connections Ben met up with Joss Whedon of Buffy fame and collaborated on many of Joss’s projects. Ben wrote the amazing episode of Angel where Buffy’s on-again, off-again Vampire love interest turns into a Muppet, as well as many of the best Firefly episodes.

Supernatural has a little bit for everybody. The actors playing the two brothers, Jensen Acklels and Jared Padaleckile are as cute as buttons, eye candy for the ladies and the laddies who are into that sort of thing. The jokes are as sharp as Rambo’s knife, and the plots have enough twists and turns you’d swear they were boy scout knots.

Supernatural is the best post modern monster show on the air. Fan magazines, comic books and novelizations await anybody hooked fans looking for a bigger Sam and Dean fix.

Tune into the adventures of the brothers Winchester and find out what all the fuss is about! This show is so good it’s practically scary!